The invention is concerned with a dispenser containing a supply roll with a wire- or pipe shaped member. In the following, this member is referred to as xe2x80x9ctubexe2x80x9d.
A particular, although not exclusive, field of application of the invention is pressurised air tube with a typical working pressure from about 5 atm pressure head. This pressurised air tube is generally fabricated of synthetic material, such as polyamid (PA), polyurethane (PU), polyethylene (PE) or polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) and is relatively thick walled. Its outer diameter can vary in steps of 1 mm or 2 mm from 2 mm to 14 mm, such as 5, 6, 8, 10 or 12 mm, at a wall thickness between 0.5 and 1.5 mm, such as about 1 mm. Typically, immediately after extruding, this pressurised air tube is wound onto a supply roll. It is necessary to wind with a bending radius larger than 5 times the tube diameter to avoid local permanent deformations, such as buckles, of the tube. Commercially available supply rolls therefore have generally an inner diameter of 150 mm and an outer diameter of 300 mm. A virgin supply roll has typically a single tube with a length of tens of meters, such as 25, 50 or 100 m, depending on the tube diameter. The weight is substantially and is some kilos at the minimum, such as 5, 10, 15 kg or more.
A known dispenser consists of a relatively flat, square carton box of 300xc3x97300xc3x97100 mm containing a loose laying roll pressurised air tube, tightly fit and substantially immovable. The end of the tube projects through a large opening in the middle of one of the large faces of the box. By pulling said end, the desired length of the supply roll is pulled from the box. For that purpose, the box must lay on one of its large faces.
In view of the conditions provided by the character of the supply roll, such as substantial weight, avoidance of buckling or becoming messy of the tube, the object of the invention is an improved dispenser. This improvement can be at least one of the following aspects: improved ease of use; lower costs; multiple applicability; larger field of application; adapted for recycling; smaller space consumption; improvement of the safety or ergonomy at the working place; less of spoiling of tube.
Thus, a dispenser is proposed with a housing at least substantially containing a supply roll of tube, wherein means are present or appliances are provided, such that the supply roll must spin around its cross axis to obtain a length piece of the tube from the dispenser, after which the dispensed piece is separated from said supply roll.
The invention ensures, that the tube can reliably be dispensed by the dispenser. The housing provides, that the tube remains neatly packed on the supply roll while the dispenser each time dispenses a desired length of the tube. The supply roll is reliably and neatly packed within the dispenser, and cannot be lost therefrom, and the tube can be unrolled neatly and according to desire. The supply roll is easily replacable.
The dispenser can have one or more of the following characteristics, with which the desired spinning of the supply roll is easily ensured: a passage opening through which the tube extends in an at least substantially tangential direction from the supply roll, or a passage opening in an at least substantially parallel to the cross axis of the supply roll directed wall, through which the tube projects outside; a mandrel or core body around which the supply roll is present; flanges at one or both sides of the supply roll; wherein said mandrel and flanges can be united into a spool. The supply roll preferably does not project beyond the flange.
Preferably, the mandrel has a diameter of at least 50, more preferably at least 100 mm, such as about 150 mm. The supply roll can be wound thereabout loose or thight fitting. This mandrel is a means to maintain the inner diameter of the supply roll. The flange and/or mandrel is a means to avoid that the supply roll can jam within the dispenser, e.g. by tilting.
Preferably the mandrel and/or flanges are designed such that they spin with the supply roll. A flange spinning with the supply roll is a means to make sure that the supply roll can spin within the dispenser with low friction. For an as low as possible friction resistance, the contact surface between moving flange and adjacent stationary wall is preferably kept as low as possible, for which flange and/or wall can be provided with a profile such that at least a substantial mutual, preferably resilient pressing, line - or point contact is obtained. As an alternative or auxiliary, use can be made of at least one rotating bearing with which the supply roll or flange can be supported, preferably at its outer side. If the flange is not present or if the flange is stationary with respect to the supply roll, appliances are provided such that the supply roll bears with small contact surface against an adjacent wall or flange, which is therefore conveniently profiled.
In view of constructive simplicity and small friction resistance it is preferable, to support the supply roll in its upright position, i.e. with the plane in which it rotates during spinning dispensing of tube, at a location at its bottom side, preferably behind the spinning axis; front side (the side turned in the direction in which tube is dispensed) and preferably above the spinning axis; and one or both side faces, preferably above and/or below the spinning axis.
By way of alternative or auxiliary to the above, it is preferable for an as low as possible friction resistance, to provide a wall in the area against which the supply roll bears, at the side facing the supply roll, with at lease one window, indeed or not providing a through opening.
Experiments have shown that the supply roll must be able to spin with low friction resistance for a reliable action of the dispenser. By making use of an at least substantially tilting free spool supported within the dispenser and containing the supply roll, this desire can be met against relatively low costs. Accordingly it is preferable to provide the dispenser with tilting arresting means to ensure the action of the means to obtain spinning at low friction (e.g. spool, mandrel or flange). Such a tilting arresting means can be provided by a convenient projection. According to a preferred embodiment appliances are provided, such that the supply roll is at least in the direction of the spinning axis thightly fitting, and thus tilting free, housed within the dispenser.
Thus, in one aspect, the invention is based on the recognition, that an in many views surprisingly favourite dispensing of tube by the dispenser can be obtained by allowing the supply roll to spin, wherein preferably said spinning must take place at the least efforts, for which appliciances can be provided such as avoidence of tilting of the supply roll within the dispenser and/or making the friction resistance between supply roll and dispenser as low as possible, while the supply roll is excellent protected by a housing.
Preferably the dispenser has a means to avoid that the free end of the tube can automatically retract itself within the dispenser. An example of such a means is an arresting member to avoid that the supply roll can automatically spin in the direction opposite to the direction in which the tube is unwound. This arresting member can engage the mandrel, flange or spool. Preferably this arresting member is provided in that the end of the tube unwound from the supply roll is guided through a passage opening between opposite edges of preferably wear resistant material keeping the tube there between clamped and allowing slip, such that said tube and passage opening provide a so-called interference fit. This can be obtained by making said edges elastically resilient movable apart, to provide that the edges try to maintain a mutual distance that is smaller than the tube diameter. To ensure the desired brake action for different tube diameters, the passage opening can have an elongated shape, such as a slit of preferably at least 10 mm in elastically easily deformable material, such as an elastomere sheet. Preferably, the opposite edges keep a mutual short distance or bear against each other if the tube is not present there between.
Furthermore it is preferable that the dispenser contains a ballast weight, particularly when the housing is made of light weight material, such a plastic. By this ballast weight, the dispenser can be used while standing loose on the ground.
The housing is preferably box shaped, such as at least substantially square, more preferably relatively flat, possibly with rounded corners, and preferably adapted to be used with a narrow side downward directed, wherein the passage opening is present in a narrow side, preferably close to the upper side, if in the position of use. Preferably one narrow side is open, such that the supply roll or spool can be removed from the dispenser through said opening, which is possibly closed by a removable cover. Convenient releasable arresting means can be used to prevent that the supply roll or spool leaves the dispenser on its own.
The dispenser can be provided with means, such as a convenient projection or recess to mutually mount to corresponding dispensers. According to a preferred embodiment, the dispenser has a projection and at a distance therefrom a recess, such that with two corresponding mutually mounted dispensers, the projection of the one dispenser preferably tightly fitting engages the recess of the other dispenser to keep the dispensers in at least one direction mutually immovable, e.g. in that the projection is present at the one side and the recess is present at the same level at the opposite side of the dispenser. As an alternative or auxiliary, a separate mounting element can be provided, such as a resilient bracket, with two hook members, each engaging a respective hook edge of each dispenser, to mutually mount two dispensers. Preferably, the dispenser is provided with two such hook edges, arranged such that three corresponding dispensers with two identical mounting elements can be mutually mounted, wherein each mounting element engages two of the three dispensers. In this connection, the mounting elements can mutually at least partly overlap, preferably over about half their length. e.g., said hook edges are therefore symmetrically provided at the dispenser. Thus, with the invention, an assembly of separate, disconnectably mutually coupled dispensers can be easily coupled to a further dispenser. By mutually mounting two or more dispensers, their stability is improved.
The invention also concerns a wheeled device with at least one running wheel and provided with one or more dispensers, such as two or three, preferably arranged adjacent each other, e.g. within a niche, which is preferably at least substantially completely filled by said dispensers. Preferably the dispensers are easily removable contained in said niche. The assembly of the dispensers can at least substantially take the complete width of the device. Preferably the dispensers are fixed by means of releasable fixation means, such that they cannot leave the device on themselves. According to an embodiment the device is tiltable and adapted to ride in a tilted position. The device can furthermore be provided with one or more containers, such as drawers, superpositioned, preferably above the dispensers, and wherein equipment and/or parts for e.g. assembly of pneumatic systems can be housed. Starting from the device as disclosed in NL-C-1006914 (corresponding to PCT/NL98/00293), and enclosed in here by reference, the device according to the invention can be obtained by removing the spools and mounting means therefore from the niche thereof, and to position two or more dispensers therein.
The invention also concerns use by a mechanic of the dispenser or the wheeled device when installing a pneumatic system, wherein it is used close to the installation area preferably loose standing and pneumatic tube of desired `length is pulled from the dispenser, wherein the supply roll spins, and is separated and mounted along a desired track and is connected to a pneumatic source and a pneumatic user, such as an actuator, e.g. a pneumatic cilinder, wherein the mechanic removes required parts and/or equipment from the wheeled device.
Particularly when the tube has shape memory at least substantially corresponding to its winding diameter at the supply roll, e.g. because this tube is wound on the supply roll after extruding while still warm, the shape of the supply roll is automatically at least substantially maintained by this shape memory while at different times a piece of the tube is removed from the dispenser and separated from the supply roll. As such the proper, light running functioning of the dispenser is ensured for a long time.